


Dead of Night

by Ignis441572



Category: Lackadaisy (Webcomic)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Nico being a supportive bean, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-04 21:34:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18821179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ignis441572/pseuds/Ignis441572
Summary: Nico was always surprisingly good at helping Zib with his nightmares.





	Dead of Night

**Author's Note:**

> This is such an underrated ship god
> 
> Anyway, hi  
> First work on the site, woo.
> 
> This takes some heavy inspiration from another work called “Cannonfire” by marchpng! It’s a super good Mordecai/Viktor story that has the same premise. Check it out!
> 
> (Also, if marchpng wants me to take it down due to the similar premise and stuff, just let me know and i’ll delete asap.)
> 
> —————

Zib awoke quickly that April night. 

 

It wasn’t uncommon for the jazzist to have nightmares. Mostly just…dreams of dark things he probably wouldn’t exactly enjoy talking about, horrors of all kinds that would plague him for a long time afterward. He usually woke up with barely any recollection of the events, piecing together what he’d conjured up in his head before falling back to sleep once again.

 

Not this time. Vision-like images from what he’d just dreamed flashed through his mind, his vision stirred and shifted as he tried his damndest to discern what was real and what he’d dreamed up. One moment, he’d see something in the corner before violently shaking his head as a way to ward off those strange...things. But, in the end, it didn’t work. He couldn’t tell, at all really. Zib’d never admit it, of course, but he was afraid in that moment. Genuinely afraid, and who could blame him?

 

It would have taken him a long, long time to get back to sleep, and knowing him, he would have had to get to the Lackadaisy long before he got it out of his head. However, he wasn’t alone when he awoke. A soft paw slowly placed itself upon his upper torso, tenderly rubbing at the muscles in that part of his chest. The paw was white, with little smudges of what seemed to be grease in the fur. At any other time, he would’ve recognized it immediately. But here, he didn’t.

 

“Zib.” A familiar voice, softly whispering into the air that surrounded him and the other. It sent a chill down his spine.

 

“Zib, erryding’s alright. I’m ‘ere.”

——————

Nico wasn’t a stranger to Zib’s nightmares.

 

The two had been together for about 6 months, and lived together for about two. Every so often Zib awoke from one of these dreams of his. At first, it scared Nico, as it likely would most others, but he’d gotten to the point where he’d learned how to calm the orange cat down through a fair bit of trial and error.

 

Zib flinched a bit when Nico placed his paw on the jazz cat’s chest. He moved the paw to his heart, feeling the pulse, and then to his forehead, checking temperature, before pulling his paw away.

 

“It’s me, Nico. Erryding’s aight. It was jus’ a dream.” Nico returned his hand to Zib’s chest. “Don’ worry.” 

 

Nico - this name he knew. He knew this person, something he could make out from the bungle of darkness that had overwhelmed his senses. Zib wearily gazed around, eventually locking eyes with the cat laying next to him. “See? It’s jus’ me. Nuthin’ to worry bout.” Nico gave a soft smile as he slowly sat up, resting himself on an arm, and trying to alarm Zib as little as possible.

 

It was only moments before the orange cat felt Nico wrap an arm around him, beginning to slowly but surely, pull him closer until he’s wrapped up in his arms. Zib was slowly returning to his senses, his thought process recovering from the fight-or-flight instinct that had taken its hold. Nico. That was familiar. Everything was alright. 

 

“...It’s so dark.” Zib quietly spoke, his usual laid-back attitude replaced with an odd relief, mixed in with sadness and fear and all these emotions that had nearly overwhelmed him only moments ago. 

 

“The lights’re off.” Nico brought his other arm around the orange cat after a moment, bundling him up in a half-hug-half-cradle in an attempt to calm Zib down, staying still to gauge his reaction. When he deemed it to be alright, Nico spoke again. “Ya wan’ me to turn ‘em on?” Zib shook his head in reply. It’d be too bright for him, probably, and it’d only overwhelm him more.

 

“Where are we…?” Typical questions. Nico gave a soft chuckle. 

 

“In your apartment, southern St. Louis.” The large, white cat stayed unwavering in his tone. He’d done this a few times before, so he had a grasp on what to say. If he had any other emotion besides a calm warmth throughout, Zib didn’t know.

 

Zib gave a little nod of acknowledgement when he heard those words. Zib’s fear eventually gave way to relief with a sigh that he couldn’t tell of whom it belonged to. He looked up at Nico for a moment, examining him as he always did in these situations, looking over those facial features of his: the kind eyes, the brown hair-fur, the almost snarky grin he always held, and everything else--before his mouth was met with a soft, loving kiss. 

 

And he just melted. Usually, the kinda-arrogant musician would make an attempt to fight back whenever he was miraculously gifted a kiss by his partner. A soft bite to the lip or something of the sort. But here, he didn’t. He couldn’t. He needed the reassurance that everything was, indeed, okay, and that kiss was the catalyst.

 

After some time (that Zib couldn’t really tell, even if he wanted to) of passionate smooching, the two broke apart, and Nico pressed himself closer to the orange cat in his arms. “Les’ hit the hay, alright? It’s late.” Zib gave another slow nod, nuzzling his head into his partner’s chest, slowly falling asleep once again. Nico, with a grin, gave him a kiss on the forehead.

 

“I love ya, Zib.”

 

“Love you too.” Zib closed his eyes as he responded, falling into slumber with a soft grin. 

 

He didn’t have another bad dream for the rest of the night.


End file.
